


Bitty's Favorite Peach

by reeseplease



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Mentions of Anxiety, the doggos are all happy and safe now I promise, very brief mentions of animal abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-14 02:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11198886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeseplease/pseuds/reeseplease
Summary: Jack and Bitty move into a new house together, but with Jack being gone so often, Bitty get lonely. So he starts volunteering at an animal shelter! I'm sure you know what happens next.





	Bitty's Favorite Peach

**Author's Note:**

> S/O to the Check Please Trans Network for bringing up the idea of Bitty working at a dog shelter! Also to that anon that requested a prompt like a month ago, this is for you too lol. Sorry it took so long. (Also the formatting might be weird bc I'm doing this on mobile at work bc I'm a good employee)

Bitty sat restlessly on the couch with the TV on watching the Bruins play the Habs. He had no real interest in the game, it was late November, but still early in the season. The Falcs were doing good and a game like this wouldn't determine anything important. But he was just so BORED. His bakery was in winter hours, closing at 2pm, and he had videos for his channeled queued up for a week. Jack wouldn't be home for another hour, and he had already made major headway on the small repair projects for their new house. He tried reading one of Jack’s books, but he really wasn't that interested in the secret history of the World Wars if Jack wasn't the one telling him about it.

  
So he was watching the game.

Bitty was scrolling through his twitter feed for the third time when he heard the door open.

  
“Hey Bitty my meeting with Georgia was cancelled so I was able to come home early- are you watching the Habs game?” Jack said interrupting himself.

  
Bitty shrugged, “I was bored, I got home from worked and cleaned up a bit and painted the dresser for the room and edited a video and now I have nothing to do. Jack, it’s so boring now with the new hours. I feel like I'm losing my mind.”

  
Bitty meant to be over dramatic and joking but Jack frowned at him.

  
“I didn't realize how much you were alone after work. Maybe you could keep the shop open longer?” Jack suggested.

  
“It's not cost efficient in the winter, I’d spend more on utilities and paying my employees for one day than we would make in a week after 2 pm,” Bitty said.  
Jack had dropped his stuff on the floor and sat down next to Bitty, who promptly flopped down to lay his head on Jack’s lap.

  
“I'll be fine,” Bitty continued, “I just need to find a new hobby and get into a routine. Baking doesn't feel like hobby anymore. I still love it, but there are only so many pies I can make in a day. Maybe I’ll take up knitting.”

  
Jack started running his fingers through Bitty’s hair, while thinking, “Ya know, Thirdy was just saying his nephew is volunteering at an after school camp, maybe you could do something like that?”

  
Bitty laughed, “You know how much I love kids, but the last thing I want after a day of working with customers that act like children is to work with ACTUAL children.”

  
“Hmmm fair,” Jack said with a chuckle, “Well what about that animal shelter on Park? They're always looking for volunteers.”

  
Bitty was silent for a few minutes thinking it over. It actually wasn't a bad idea, he loved animals, and that shelter was often looking for volunteers who could come in before five. He could pick up a few hours after the bakery closed. It would be something to do that was hopefully enjoyable.

  
“Maybe I’ll go over tomorrow after work and see what it would entail,” Bitty said, watching the tv, then he shifted to look up at Jack, “Honey, I love you, but you should go shower.”

 

_/•\\_

 

It turned out the animal shelter was the perfect fit for Bitty. They needed someone to do laundry and help clean out the kennels, which wasn’t a glamorous job, but they made sure every volunteer got a chance to walk and play with the dogs if they did the “dirty” jobs. When Bitty went into to ask about a volunteer application, the woman at the front desk was over excited.

  
“There’s not chance you could take an hour today to help out? I know it’s asking a lot, but in the winter our volunteer numbers drop with the kids back in school, and most adults can’t come in until after 5,” the woman, Bitty learned was named Julie, explained.

She quickly gave some information on what the work was, and Bitty agreed to stay on for two hours that day. He threw a load of laundry in the wash cycle and went to clean out some kennels while another volunteer took the dogs for a walk. The shelter was on the smaller side, holding about seven dogs at a time in the winter, and seven more in the summer with a few outdoor kennels, but they took in “aggressive” breeds that would normally have a hard time being adopted. They were a no kill shelter, and raised money to try to help dogs that came to them that they couldn’t hold on to, to find them a shelter that was also no kill. They were also raising money long term for a new facility to hold more animals. As Bitty was cleaning out the kennels he wondered how he could get the Falcs involved to make that dream a reality much sooner. Knowing people with an NHL salary could come in handy.

  
After about an hour and a half, a giant load of laundry was done and the kennels were cleaned so Bitty went to find Julie.

  
“Are you done with the kennels already?” Julie asked, both surprised and a little skeptical.

  
“Yes, ma’am, I was going to ask you do a walk through to make sure I did everything right?” Bitty said, giving Julie a warm smile.

  
She nodded and they walked back towards the kennels together. After looking at the first two, she laughed, “I guess I’m so used to working with teenagers complaining about how gross it is, I didn’t quite believe you were done.”

  
“Well, ma’am, I’ve lived with hockey players for more than my fair share of years, I’m VERY used to gross,” Bitty said shooting her a grin.

  
Julie laughed, and said. “Makes sense, and please, dear, call me Julie. Ma’am makes me feel old. Now how about you follow me, and meet Peaches?”

  
“Peaches?” Bitty asked, walking behind Julie towards the back office. Laying in a dog bed was a small light blond colored pit bull with the biggest brown eyes Bitty had ever seen. She was laying with her head down, but immediately lifted it and started wagging her tail when he and Julie walked in. She didn’t get up, and was cautious but not unfriendly at all.

  
“She came to us a day ago, she was whining in the cage earlier before we had a chance to properly clean it so I let her stay back here until we could get her a cage that didn’t smell like another dog. She’s a little shy, but she seems to like you,” Julie said noticing Peaches leaning forward to sniff at Bitty’s pants.

  
“Oh my goodness, aren’t you just the cutest little face I’ve ever seen?” Bitty carefully crouched down and let Peaches sniff at his hand, and once she seemed happy, gave her a little chin scratch. She visibly relaxed and began gently wagging her tail again, and Julie laughed.

  
“I think that’s the happiest she’s been since she got here, isn’t it?” She said bending down toward Peaches, “Why don’t you take her for a short walk just around the yard? We have a path plowed out, and a little sweater for her on the wall.”

  
“Oh I’d love that!” Bitty said, as he continued giving Peaches a head scratch.

  
Peaches was wonderful on a leash, Bitty learned. She didn’t really pull, and didn’t try to run off too much. She wasn’t a huge fan of other dogs, and when the other volunteer came around with another pit bull, they steered clear. Julie had explained that they didn’t know exactly what had happened to Peaches, but she had potentially been a bait dog in the south, or at least was intended to be. She had a few small scars on her ear that looked like they could have been from another dog biting at her, but was mostly unscathed. She was just very skittish around other pit bulls especially, and larger men.

  
But Peaches seemed to love Bitty. He kept up a running monologue talking about his day at work while they walked. By the time they got back, Bitty actually felt better about his day, and less stressed out by some of the work he had to do the next day. It was nice to talk to Peaches, even if she didn’t really understand him. When they got back to the office, Bitty told Julie he wouldn’t mind coming in any days of the week after 2 she needed him and they worked out a schedule. Monday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday’s Bitty would come in after the bakery closed and stay for up to two hours. The entire time they were discussing schedules, Peaches was laying at Bitty’s feet, falling asleep.

  
Bitty arrived at the house not too long before Jack came home, and decided to start making dinner. He was humming along to his music, dancing around the kitchen when the door opened.

  
“Something… smells amazing, Bittle, what are you making?” Jack said throwing his gear bag on the floor and walking up behind Bitty.

  
“Mmmm I’m making shrimp scampi, my mom was sending my some recipes to try with seafood, but I really only like shrimp so,” Bitty said with a shrug.

  
“Well, it smells delicious. I’m going to shower real quick, but then I can set the table?” Jack suggested.

  
“Ooo, are we going to use the table and eat a proper dinner like real adults?” Bitty said teasingly.

  
“Hate to break it to you Bits, but we’re out of college, with real full time jobs, and now we’re homeowners. We ARE real adults,” Jack said before quickly kissing Bitty’s cheek and heading towards the bathroom.

  
By the time Jack was out of the shower, Bitty had already set the table, and was pouring a glass of wine for each of them.

  
“Bits, I haven’t seen you this… well, energetic when I get home in a while,” Jack observed.

  
“I took your advice, and I stopped by the shelter. They needed some help today so I stayed for a few hours and cleaned some kennels. Then, they let me walk the cutest little dog name Peaches. She was so sweet honey, you should come in sometime and meet her,” Bitty said, seemingly glowing while he was talking.

This was the routine for the next few weeks. Bitty would go to the shelter on the days they had worked out, and when Jack was in town and able to come home they would try to make dinner, or on game nights, order out if it was easier. Bitty was happier, and on the days that Jack was on a roadie, he didn’t feel as lonely anymore. It was still too quiet in the large house, but he didn’t have to spend the entire day by himself. He even started warming George up to the idea of maybe hosting a fundraising event with the shelter. Nothing was even close to being set in stone, but it was a start.

It was one of those nights that Jack was on a roadie that Bitty began to feel a little bit of the loneliness creeping up on him. There was a big snow storm heading towards them, and they were calling for record snow. Jack had sadly warned Bitty that his flight home would most likely be delayed. Lardo had offered to come over and stay the night with him, but Bitty knew she had a big project to work on and declined. He would be fine, it wasn’t the end of the world.

  
Bitty was flipping through channels on the tv when his phone rang, and he saw it was Julie.

  
“Hello?” Bitty said, looking at the clock that read 8:30 pm. The shelter wasn’t even open.

  
“Hi, Eric, I’m so sorry to call you this late, but uh, well so the last storm apparently damaged our roof. We didn’t notice until part of it began leaking pretty badly in the office. None of the kennels have been affected, thank god, but the guy who looked at the roof said that the next snowstorm could do some pretty bad work on it. We’re trying to find people to take in the dogs just for a few days while the storm passes and until we can find a solution to the roof problem. Our usual foster families have taken them all except Peaches, she was very nervous around the other dogs, and we just need someone to hold on to her, and I know she loves you so I thought I’d ask-”

  
“Oh of course! I, uh, I’ll need some supplies, I mean, we just got a house, but we’ve never had a dog…” Bitty said, looking around at the lack of dogs toys and beds and food.

  
“No problem, we have her bed and some of her toys, and I’ll stop at the grocery store when I bring her over and grab her food and a bowl. Thank you so much Eric!”  
Julie hung up and Bitty almost squealed. He wouldn’t be alone after all.

Julie arrived not too long after with Peaches in tow, and gave Bitty her eating schedule, some tips on making sure she was comfortable in her new environment, and permission to call if he needed any help. Once she left, Bitty looked down at Peaches, who looked back up at him and tilted her head.

  
“Well, girl, what do you think? Nice place huh? My boyfriend technically bought it, but we picked it out together. He’s wonderful, I swear I'm going to marry that boy someday,” Bitty said.

  
Peaches responded by sitting down at his feet. Bitty laughed and pat her head.

  
“Come on, let’s go watch a movie,” Bitty said leading her into the living room.

  
Bitty ended up sitting on the floor next to Peaches, who laid down, and was resting her head in his lap. Bitty was gently petting her, while half watching the movie, and rambling on about his day, and about Jack.

  
“Oh Peaches, I hope you like him, he’s great. He’s a little on the larger side compared to me… oh that sounded… well you’re a dog, you don’t get innuendo. Anyway, he’s taller, but I promise he’s a gentle giant. Maybe not so much on the ice, he can give a mean check, trust me I know, but that’s a story for another time. I hope Jack likes you, too. Oh dear, I probably should have asked him before saying yes… he’s probably on the plane now. Or asleep. I’ll just wait until morning to tell him, I guess. How could he not like you, anyway. Look at you, you’re adorable.”

Eventually Bitty realized how tired he was, and took Peaches for a quick walk before heading off to bed. He brought her dog bed into his and Jack’s room, and laid it down, but she jumped on the king sized bed he was sleeping in and he didn’t have the heart to say no. Soon they were both asleep.

Bitty awoke suddenly to a loud strange noise. As he woke up, he realized it was barking, and that it must be Peaches. He looked at the clock and saw it was 6:30 in the morning. He tried to see what Peaches was barking at, and then realized there was someone talking to her.

  
“Whoa, girl, it’s ok.”

  
Bitty quickly ran down to the living room to see Jack up against the door frame with Peaches barking at him.

  
“Peaches! No, it’s ok!” Bitty said firmly. Peaches stopped and looked at him. Then turned back to Jack, and sat down looking at him.

  
“Uh, Bitty, why is there a dog in our house?”

  
“So, the shelter had some snow damage, and they needed to house some of the dogs, and I kinda said yes before I could think about it,” Bitty said with a sheepish grin.

  
Jack ran a hand down his face and sighed, but had the hint of a smile on his lips, “Of course you did. She’s, eh, not a fan of me.”

  
“Oh, she’s just a little nervous is all, here, crouch down with me,” Bitty said, lowering himself to Peaches level, and grabbing at Jack. It didn’t take Peaches long to allow Jack to touch her, but she still seemed nervous around him.

  
“Just be careful not to make too many aggressive looking sudden movements around her. It’s a new environment, you’re a stranger, and she’s been shy to begin with. But she seems to like you enough,” Bitty said, “Now, get out of those clothes and come back to bed, I’m tired, and I’m guessing by the fact that you’re home, you took a redeye. You need some sleep Mr. Zimmermann.”

  
Jack laughed and slowly stood up to follow Bitty back to bed, but before he could get in Peaches had jumped into his spot.

  
“Bittle, she’s on my bed,” Jack said staring at Peaches.

  
“Oh, uh, she was scared. Here, Peaches, come here honey,” Bitty patted the bed near him, and she moved over enough to let Jack in the bed. He laid down and let her sniff him as he dozed off.

Peaches warmed up the Jack the more he was around her. Jack was very calm person, and while physically imposing for a small dog, he was gentle with her and respected that she might be scared around him. Bitty watched as Peaches began to follow Jack more, and relax around him. On the last day they were scheduled to have her, Jack had a game. It was a rough game that the Falcs lost, and Jack was feeling particularly bad about it. For some reason, he felt like he failed his team. They had all assured him that wasn’t the case, but he couldn’t shake the feeling.

  
Jack had come home to Bitty asleep on the couch, and didn’t want to wake him, but didn’t want to be alone. He slumped against the wall in the living room, looking at Bitty and just sat on the floor. His thoughts started spiraling down the path of ‘I messed up’ and he started breathing quickly, on the verge of hyperventilating, until Peaches walked over and nudged him with her nose. He was jerked out of his thoughts and looked at her. She carefully licked at his hand. Then she laid down and laid her head in his lap. He slowly began stroking her head, and then rested a hand on her stomach and just watched her breathing. She snorted a little when she breathed out at one point, and Jack giggled.

  
“Huh, you’re pretty good at that, you know?” Jack said, still a little on edge, but much more calm than before. She just snorted again in response.

  
“Jack? Honey, are you ok?” Bitty said, still in the process of waking up from his couch nap.

  
“Yeah, I think so,” he said, “I-uh, Peaches, helped me out a little bit? She just laid with me a bit while I calmed down.”

  
They both looked down at Peaches who began wagging her tail.

  
“I’m going to miss her,” Bitty whispered staring at Peaches in Jack’s lap.

 

_/•\\_

 

Bitty had convinced George that the Providence Animal Refuge Shelter was a good cause to put some money into. She was willing to talk to Julie and see if they could set up some kind of fundraiser with the team, and suggested that Jack be the liaison between the two since Jack already knew Julie a little. He had gone with Bitty to drop Peaches back off with the shelter. Bitty had looked as sad as Jack felt. He had grown pretty close to the adorable little dog in the three days she was with them. Bitty hadn’t seemed his usual peppy self she’d gone back, and that was almost as sad as seeing Peaches see the shelter when they drove up.  
So Jack had a plan. He had to go talk to Julie anyway, and Bitty was going to be at work until 2, and wasn’t scheduled to volunteer that day so he had some time.

Bitty pulled into his driveway exhausted. Work had sucked, and one of his ovens was acting up, and Dex was going to come look at it, but couldn’t for a few days, and someone threw up in the shop, so he had to follow health codes and bleach everything that was bleachable in the kitchen, and then his drawer was ten dollars under when he closed. All he wanted was a hot bath and a long nap. He got out of the car, and slammed the door shut. He noticed Jack’s car was in the garage and suddenly was very confused. He was supposed to be at the rink discussing something about the fundraiser?

  
Bitty opened the front door and was about to shout for Jack when suddenly Peaches was jumping up at him, licking him.

  
“Peaches! Honey, hi yes it’s me, oh I missed you my love, yes I did, yes I did,” Bitty said, crouching down to her level.

  
Jack came around the corner with a smile on his face.

  
“Was something wrong with the building still? I thought Julie said that-”

  
“The building’s fine, for now. I went in to talk to Julie about a possible fundraiser for the new shelter space, and I got you a present,” Jack said, holding his closed hand out to Bitty.

  
Bitty tilted his head and stuck his hand out. Jack dropped something into it, and Bitty looked at it closer. It was a new dog tag that read “Peaches Bittle Zimmermann” and had their phone numbers on it.

  
“I- what?” Bitty said looking up at Jack.

  
“Peaches seemed happier with you, and you seemed happier with her. And honestly, I missed her a lot too. I know sometimes me being on the road can be rough, but now you don’t have to be alone,” Jack said, placing his hands around Bitty’s waist.

  
“Oh honey. This is. I love you, so much,” Bitty said, pulling Jack down for a kiss.

  
“I donated a large amount of money towards the shelter, I hope you don’t mind, and we’re in the beginning stages of setting up a small charity ball for them, I think-”

  
“Jack, marry me,” Bitty interrupted.

  
Jack froze, unsure if he heard correctly, “W-what?”

  
“Jack Zimmermann,” Bitty kneeled down and was immediately accosted by Peaches licking his face, “Will you marry me?”

  
Before Jack could answer, Peaches started barking playfully and jumping on Bitty, who was laughing, but still looking at Jack.

  
“Eric are you asking me for real right now?” Jack all but whispered.

  
“Yes I am, Jack, please marry m-”

  
“Of course! Yes, of course I’ll marry you Bits,” Jack said, before throwing himself at Bitty, still kneeling on the ground. Soon they were hugging on the floor of their kitchen while their new dog tried to join in, jumping on them and licking them.

  
In that moment, Bitty had never felt less alone in his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr at hockeyandpie!


End file.
